Duty and Loyalty of the Sole Survivor
by orahlith
Summary: A Fallout 4 fanfic that follows the journey of the (female) Sole Survivor, herein named Nora. In this version she joins the Brotherhood of Steel. The purpose of this fanfic is to describe internal struggles and feelings of characters in the game beyond what is presented to the player.
1. Prologue

" _But your son's out there," drones Mama Murphy, in her strange, dreamy voice. "And even I don't need the Sight to tell you where you should start lookin'. The Great Great Jewel of the Commonwealth. Diamond City. The biggest settlement around."_

" _What's in Diamond City? Is Shaun there?"_

October 23, 2287

It's hard to say if I believe her. Mama Murphy is clearly a junkie, but none of the other people in Preston Garvey's little group tell me her idea that Diamond City is where I should go to start looking for Shaun. I take everything I can find near my old home, food, stimpacks, and ammo.

The dog I ran into at the old Red Rocket station is still following me around, but I don't mind. Someone tells me his name is Dogmeat. Brash, but it's stuck in my mind now. I make my way south on the same highway I used to take into Boston for my law school days. Everything is destroyed, and I can't get over how different the world looks. Nothing is green. The roads are littered with shells of old cars and broken asphalt. I tread cautiously everywhere we go, but we still run into mutated insects, wild dogs, and insane people; all ready to kill Dogmeat and I without a word.

As we make our way to the outskirts of Boston, the sun begins to go down. My Pipboy glows slightly out of the corner of my eye. I glance down at the nuclear green letters across the screen.

IN RANGE: MILITARY FREQUENCY AF95

"What's this?"

I turn the dial until I can view the radio menu. I didn't even notice there were radio stations available in this barren world. Sure enough, the military frequency is available, along with another called "Diamond City Radio."

"Interesting," I speak aloud … again. Dogmeat looks at me as though I'm talking to him.

Flipping on the military frequency, a woman's voice comes out of my little speakers:

"Automated message repeating. This is scribe Haylen with squad Gladius to any unit within range of transmission…"

A snarl sounds nearby and Dogmeat barks. A pair of mongrel canines leap at the dog. MY dog, and start snapping at his neck. Quickly, I pull out the homemade pistol I picked up along the way and start shooting as carefully as I can, aiming for their bodies, hoping they will drop quickly. One turns to me and starts running. I aim straight at its' head, practically shooting down it's throat. The wild animal drops before it can touch me.

Dogmeat yelps as he is bitten again. I fire one last shot at the remaining mongrel and it slumps to the ground.

Pulling him to his feet, I help the pup into a nearby abandoned house. I patch Dogmeat's wounds and feed him a bit of old Dandy Boy Snack Cakes I find in the kitchen. In one of the bedrooms I find an old mattress. The room is half collapsed, but I figure it's the best we can do. I'm exhausted from all the fighting I've done today. My bones ache and it doesn't seem to matter how many stimpacks I jab into my leg, I still hurt.

Dogmeat crawls over next to me on the mattress, clearly aware we're going to get some shuteye. I just hope that nothing will find us while we sleep.


	2. Chapter 1: October 24, 2287 - Morning

October 24, 2287 - Early Morning

BZZZZZZZT-BZZZZZZZZZZZZ

It's the dead of night. The hum of giant wings outside wake us both, but neither I or the dog move. Dogmeat starts to growl a little. I place a placating hand on his back, since I'm not terribly in the mood for a fight, and he quiets down. I see the insect's long, stick like body float by a gap in the wall, but it doesn't notice us inside the house. It passes us by. We don't have to wait long for the oversized mosquito to fly off.

Laying in the dark, I think about what to do next. With something dangerous waking us, it's hard to want to go back to sleep. I weigh the options carefully in my mind. Go back to sleep? Wait for dawn? I decide that the cover of night is probably an advantageous way to make my way into Boston and look for Diamond City.

Slowly, I stand up, feeling a bit better after some sleep. Dogmeat looks astonishingly revived after his battle the night before. "Shhhh," I sound softly to the pup. He whines, but follows me silently out of the house.

As we come into the city proper from the northern bridge, I see some men wearing rags and oddly fashioned bits of armor strapped to their body. They look rough and tumble, so I try to sneak around them, keeping behind the rusted out cars. The men stand atop a makeshift wall of metal sheeting bolted to wood planks. It surrounds what I suppose must be their territory.

One of them grunts from behind an opening at the base their wall. He's heard me.

"What was that?"

I stop dead.

"I heaaaar you," he taunts.

Dogmeat growls as the man comes closer. He steps out, wooden pipe pistol raised. Dogmeat barks and he starts shooting. "Oh, I'll eat you!" He screams, firing wildly, but missing the dog. He runs out of bullets as Dogmeat reaches him. He leaps, hitting the man in the chest so he can't reload right away. The dog bites his leg and starts tearing furiously. I take this as my opportunity to stand up from behind the car and aim carefully at his head.

BANG. BANG.

He drops.

Suddenly, I see Nate's face in my mind's eye, smiling and showing me a well grouped target from the shooting range.

Shouts break me for my memories in an instant.

Swearing I call to Dogmeat. He's starting to creep towards the opening in the wall. "No! Don't!" He looks back at me with confusion. "Over here!" I motion away from the gang's territory and start weaving between cars. I hope the dog is behind me as I move quickly to the end of the bridge and dart into an ally in the city. I hear a beeping sound. Something in my mind tells me to move faster. Standing, I sprint and hear an explosion behind me.

"Mines?!" I yell aloud in disbelief. People have put mines out. In Boston. Unbelievable.

We run into two more camps of crazed men and women, ready to kill anyone walking within shooting range of their part of the city. I wonder if I'm ever going to reach Diamond City. I rest up against the wall of an old apartment building and look at my Pipboy. The map has very little information for me, but I can see that there is a police station nearby. Running low on ammo, I wonder if it's been completely looted in the 210 year since I was frozen.

Glancing down at Dogmeat, I voice my thoughts aloud. "Maybe someone has established law enforcement from there," I tell him. "Old habits die hard, right?" Just as I say that I remember the military broadcast from the day before. Someone was broadcasting from a police station. "Let's check it out," I tell the pup. He barks and I actually believe that he's agreeing with me.

It's not surprising to hear the gunshots on the approach to the station. I get turned around trying to figure out how to get over there and end up coming up a back alley. I hear strange electric POP POP BBZT like lasers from the old science fiction movies we used to watch. Sure enough, as I creep up I can see red streaks of light fly across a courtyard, hitting an opening in another scrap-built wall. There is a grumble and a guttural snarl.

"Look alive!" Calls a man's voice from my right. Lasers fire and I see seemingly decaying men come stumbling rapidly around the wall. Terrified, I hug the wall and start shooting them from the side. Four more come around the corner. My shots don't seem to phase them, but eventually some of them go down and don't get back up. More keep coming, though, and my pistol ammo runs out.

Dogmeat runs out and grabs one near me by the arm and starts flailing. I notice a loose board on the ground nearby. Snatching it up, I start wailing on its head. As it goes down more come in, running straight at a man in a set of metal armor. They're swarming him, clawing at his face and arms. He knocks one back and fires, but the others are making it difficult for him to aim. I notice his allies are near the doors to the station, trying to fire at the enemy, but having difficulty doing so without hitting their ally.

Uncertain this is the safest course of action, I run up behind the small mob and start to bash them in every weak spot I can find. As they move off to attack me, the metal soldier hits them in the back. The last couple of human corpses start chasing me around a barricade, which I use to slow them down. The armored soldier picks them off with his laser rifle while they chase me. One catches up to me, starting to grab my arms. I kick it back and I swing at it's head like a bat hitting a baseball. It crumples to the ground.

Suddenly, it's very quiet.

The metal soldier turns to me. "We appreciate your assistance here, civilian, but what is your business here?"

"I heard the distress call on the radio," I explain, still breathless from the adrenaline rush. Swallowing, I continue, "I'm in need of supplies so I thought I would see what it was happening."

"The way you charged in and engaged those ferals, I find that a bit difficult to believe," he responds. "Are you from a local settlement?"

I consider lying, or being evasive, but don't want to tell my whole life story. "I'm from Sanctuary Hills," I say. It's not a total lie. My home is - was there.

"I've seen it on our maps, but I haven't been over there myself. Our mission here has been difficult. Since the moment we arrived in the Commonwealth, we've been constantly under fire."

I smile sardonically. "I can relate to being under fire. I've been on duck and cover since I started heading for Boston."

"The Commonwealth is a dangerous area," He confirms. "I should think a local would know that." He accuses me in a crisp and commanding voice.

"I haven't been out much."

He raises his head and looks down his nose, like he's measuring me up. "I see. If you want to continue pitching in, we could use an extra gun on our side."

"Well, that depends. What do I get if I keep helping you?"

"So you're a mercenary. Typical."

I cross my arms, shifting my weight. "I'm not a mercenary, but like I said, I need supplies. I can't make it out here alone, so if I'm going to help you, I need to know this is a give and get."

"Fine," he agrees. "You help us, and I'll see that you're compensated for your services."

"Thank you."

"I'm Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel. Over there is Knight Rhys and Scribe Haylen."

"Nora," I say.

Danse nods. "Good to put a name with a gun. As far as how you can help us, we're on recon duty, but I'm down a man and our supplies are running low. I've been trying to send a distress signal to my superiors, but the signal's too weak to reach them."

"Sir," calls Haylen. She's about my size, covered in tactical pockets. Hearing her called scribe makes me assume she's some kind of intelligence officer in their ranks. As soon as she has our attention, she adds, "I've modified the radio tower on top of the station, but the signal still isn't strong enough. We need something to boost the signal."

Danse looks back at me. "Near here is ArcJet Systems and it contains the tech we need to boost our signal. We have records of a deep range transmitter there. After we infiltrate the facility and bring the transmitter back we will be able to contact the Brotherhood of Steel."

I nod. "Sounds like a plan. I'll help out."

"Outstanding." He marches up the steps of the police station to where Haylen is tending to Rhys. I didn't notice how wounded the other soldier was. "Haylen, bring Rhys inside so we can regroup." Danse pushes the door open.

I follow them up the steps and step over to where Haylen is helping Rhys to his feet. "Can I help?" I ask, nodding to the wounded soldier.

"She's got it," Rhys sneers. I back off from his hostility, but Haylen looks at me apologetically as she helps him inside.

The interior of the police station is a wreck. It's apparent that the Brotherhood has cleared out the main lobby as their staging area. There are a few supply crates sitting by the walls and a working computer with sleeping bags nearby. Not terribly cozy for a field operation. I expected a little more from a recon team, low on supplies or not. Danse is standing next to the reception desk and watches me as I peer around. I peek into a neighboring room and see it is littered with broken furniture piled up with no rhyme or reason.

"I'd like to move out," he remarks. "We've got a job to do."

I try not to sound too desperate, but find myself eyeing the supply crates. "I'm low on ammo," I point out. "Hence the bashing zombies with a two by four."

He actually smiles. "Don't usually hear people call feral ghouls zombies. You're welcome to anything you need for the field. Ammo, stimpacks, food."

"Great." I step over to the opposite corner where they're keeping their supplies. Rhys and Haylen are flirting as she patches him up. Going through the crates I find plenty of 10mm ammo for my pistol. As I crouch down and open another, I see there's a scoped rifle inside. "Uh…Paladin?"

He walks over to see what I'm looking at. His footsteps in that armor on the wooden floor is like a drum. "What is it?"

Showing him the rifle I inquire, "Can I take this for the mission? I prefer a scoped weapon."

He nods in approval. "Sure thing. Glad to supply you with something you're confident with."

"Sweet." I stand up, feeling a lot better now that there's a real weapon in my hands. "I'm ready."

Paladin Danse stands a little taller, his military readiness showing. "Let's do this."


End file.
